Best Washing Machine Cleaner: TrulyFree Product Review

QUICK SUMMARY

The best washing machine cleaner for a non-toxic home is one that cleans out the buildup without leaving fragrance or harsh chemical residue behind, which is why we recommend TrulyFree’s citric acid-based Washing Machine Cleaner. Run it once a month in an empty cycle, wipe the detergent drawer and the bottom of the rubber door seal, and leave the door open to dry, because a 2021 study of home washers found those two spots carry the most bacteria. (1)

If you’re building a healthy home and you’ve eliminated toxic chemicals but haven’t cleaned your washer, you’re missing out. Get the best washing machine cleaner so you aren’t “cleaning clothes” with mold and bacteria. Ewwww…

Caring for our home is one of the quiet ways we care for the people God has given us, and the washing machine is easy to forget.

The Best Washing Machine Cleaner

There is a wide range of commercial laundry machine cleaning products out there. Unfortunately, these commercial formulas tend to use harsh chemicals to “clean” your laundry machine, and many leave a scent behind so the machine smells clean whether it is or not.

It’s one thing to get rid of the bacteria and germs, but leaving chemical residues behind isn’t a good idea. In fact it kind of defeats the purpose: you’re just trading one kind of invisible dirt for another. Here is what we steer clear of:

• Surfactants – These make the suds, and a heavy-sudsing formula can leave a residue behind in the drum and seals. Just because it’s sudsy doesn’t mean it’s clean.
• Fragrances – Manufacturers use fragrances to make you think your laundry smells clean, and a single “fragrance” on a label can hide many chemicals. We explain why we avoid them in our guide to the chemicals in laundry detergent. The goal isn’t to perfume the inside of your washing machine; you want it truly clean.

Fortunately, there are other options that don’t require the use of toxic chemicals. By running a regular cleaning cycle with a non-toxic, citric acid-based cleaner and no laundry in the drum, you can clear out the accumulated bacteria and other gunk. This leaves your machine clean and smelling fresh so no invisible dirt gets transferred onto your laundry.

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It pairs well with the same company’s laundry detergent, which we have used for years and reviewed in our Truly Free review.

How to Clean Your Washing Machine

If you take the time to read the manual that comes with your machine (does anybody really do that?), the manufacturers do encourage you to regularly clean the machine itself. One major washer maker’s help page puts it plainly: “Run the Clean Washer cycle every month to maintain washer freshness.” (2)

Here is the routine we follow, built on what the researchers found:

1. Once a month, run an empty cleaning cycle. Add the washing machine cleaner to the drum with no laundry and no detergent, and choose the hottest or “clean washer” cycle your machine offers.
2. Pull out and wash the detergent drawer. In the 2021 German study, the drawer and the chamber behind it held the most bacteria of any spot tested. (1)
3. Wipe the bottom of the rubber door seal. Water pools there, and both the 2021 bacteria study and a 2023 study of 50 machines named the door seal as a hot spot. (1, 3)
4. Leave the door and drawer open between loads. The German team’s advice was simple: “When not in use, machines should be left open to dry out.” (1)
5. Move wet laundry out quickly. Damp fabric sitting in a closed drum is exactly the warm, wet setting that bacteria and mold love.

For the stubborn spots on clothes themselves, our homemade stain remover handles most of what a cleaner machine won’t.

What’s In Your Washing Machine?

Your washing machine does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to cleaning your home. All of those clothes, towels, bedding, and other household linens add up. But when you’re doing the wash, are you leaving invisible dirt behind?

The truth is your laundry might not be as clean as you think it is, and it’s not your fault. Over time your laundry machine, and even the items that come out of it, may begin to develop an unpleasant odor. That can be due to bacteria, mold, and germs that you can’t see with the naked eye.

Researchers have now looked inside ordinary home machines. In a 2021 study from Germany, scientists swabbed 10 front-loading washers and found an average of about 21,000 bacteria per square centimeter, with some spots topping 100,000. Of the 40 species they identified, 22 were classed as opportunistic pathogens, the kind that can make someone sick when their defenses are down. (1)

Mold is part of the picture too. When Iranian researchers sampled 50 washing machines in 2023, 41 of them (82 percent) grew fungi, and the inner rubber door seal was the spot most often colonized. When they washed clean socks in those machines, fungi grew from every one of the ten sock samples afterward. (3) If mold exposure is already a concern in your home, the washer is one more place to look.

The buildup can come from the commercial detergents and softeners you’re using, which may leave residues behind. Over time these residues can build up into a biofilm, a slimy layer where bacteria and fungi live together and feed on what is left behind.

The most famous example, published in 2019, came from a children’s hospital in Germany. Between 2012 and 2013, 13 newborns and 1 young child on one ward were colonized with a drug-resistant strain of Klebsiella oxytoca. Investigators found the same strain in the detergent drawer and on the rubber door seal of a home-style washing machine used for the babies’ laundry, and in two sinks. After the machine was taken out of use, no new cases appeared over the next four years. (4) That was a hospital, not a family laundry room, but it shows how a machine that never fully dries can hold on to germs.

What’s On Your Laundry?

Another possible source for contamination of your laundry machine is any germs that are already on your fabrics. Underwear, kitchen towels, cloth diapers, and the clothes of someone who is sick all carry bacteria into the drum.

A 2022 risk study from the University of Arizona modeled how germs move through home laundry. Cold water and regular detergent handled most respiratory germs, but for stomach bugs, the authors found that “hot water, advanced detergents, sanitizing agents and drying are needed.” They also advised washing a sick person’s laundry separately and washing your hands after handling dirty laundry. (5)

All of these germs tend to build up in the washing drum and rubber seals of your machine. The more laundry you run through the machine without cleaning the actual machine itself, the more chance they have to spread. Machines in garages, sheds, or damp basements have it worst, because humid places are where these organisms grow and thrive.

Washing Machine Cleaner FAQs

What is the best non-toxic washing machine cleaner?

We use TrulyFree’s citric acid-based Washing Machine Cleaner because it clears out buildup without leaving fragrance or harsh chemical residue behind. Run it once a month in the hottest or “clean washer” cycle with no laundry and no detergent in the drum.

How often should I clean my washing machine?

Once a month is the standard, and it is what washer makers recommend. (2) Wipe the door seal and leave the door open after every wash day in between.

Why does my washing machine smell?

A sour or musty smell usually means bacteria and mold are growing in the leftover water and residue, most often in the detergent drawer and the bottom of the door seal. (1) A monthly cleaning cycle and a door left open to dry are the fix.

Is a front loader or a top loader worse for mold?

The 2021 German study tested front loaders, and their rubber door seal was the trouble spot: the bottom fold, where water collects, held hundreds of times more bacteria than the top. (1) Whichever kind you have, a dry machine is a clean machine.

Keep reading: Homemade Floor Cleaner With Essential Oils · Homemade Heavy-Duty Cleaner With Essential Oils + Reusable Wipes · Toxic Chemicals in Your Home: Microplastics, PFAS & the Chemical Soup